A federal judge denied bail Tuesday for two Starkville residents accused of materially supporting a terrorist group.
Jaelyn Delshaun Young, 20, and Muhammad Oda Dakhlalla, 22, remain in the custody of U.S. Marshals after they were arrested by FBI investigators Saturday at the Golden Triangle Regional Airport.
A criminal complaint against the two alleges they bought plane tickets in order to fly overseas and join Islamic State operatives in Syria.
They are charged with conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State group (IS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, and, if convicted, face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
“There are two bright, young people with everything to look forward to, born in the freest country in the world and with such loving parents that just blew it,” said U.S. Judge S. Allan Alexander before denying the bonds. “I honestly believe a relative life of privilege has insulated them from the reality of what they were getting themselves into. I think they are both disillusioned idealists, that they couldn’t make a contribution to the United States. I believe that their anger and naivete works against them. That anger is still there.”
With family members in the courtroom watching, the two suspects, each in an orange jumpsuit, were led into court handcuffed and shackled. They sat at the same table but were separated by their attorneys.
They listened as federal prosecutors called them flight risks and said they pose threats to public safety if released.
“Essentially what they are doing is betraying their country to join a group we are functionally at war with,” U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner said. “Now they are stuck over here, completely unpredictable.”
Young’s attorney, Kenneth Coghlan, unsuccessfully argued his client wasn’t a flight risk since she has no money and does not own a car or weapons.
The pair claimed to have a combined $490 to their names, financial affidavits state.
“They don’t need a gun or a car,” Joyner said. “All they need is a radical ideology, which they both espouse.”
Unsealed FBI affidavits claim both suspects confessed to their plans after they were detained this weekend.
Calls to the law offices of Coghlan and Gregory Park, who is representing Dakhlalla, went unreturned Tuesday.
A U.S. Marshal Service representative said his organization would not release mugshots of the two suspects and declined to say where they are being held.
It is unknown when the next step in the case will be held.
Tracking social media posts
Federal affidavits against Dakhlalla and Young show investigators began tracking their social media posts this spring. At least one agent posed online as a middleman for IS while communicating with the duo.
Officials identified and made contact with Young after she began lamenting online about not having enough money to travel abroad.
“I just want to be there 🙁 #IS,” she tweeted in May according to the affidavit.
Young engaged an FBI investigator later that month, the affidavit states, and said she was preparing for “hijjrah,” which is a reference for traveling to the Islamic State.
“Many of the family members and members of the community do not support Dawlah … Dawlah is correct,” she allegedly communicated to investigators.
Dawlah is the IS’s preferred name for itself, and the family she referenced was Dakhlalla’s.
She would make the trip, the affidavit states, accompanied by a companion — Dakhlalla — before August.
Obtaining funding and passports for the trip — at one point Young told investigators the couple planned to use a honeymoon in Greece as a cover story — delayed their efforts until they allegedly purchased tickets for a Delta Airlines flight from Columbus to Istanbul, Turkey, with connections in Atlanta and the Netherlands, on or about Friday, the complaint states.
From there, it alleges they planned to cross the border into Syria to join the Islamic State.
“We live in a small town with a very small airport that doesn’t have much, if any, security…,” Young allegedly told investigators via social media on Aug. 4. “That’s one U.S. weakness — small towns’ airports have poor funding and less educated staff so it is easier to get through.”
Young allegedly told investigators that once within Dawlah, she “would love to help with giving medical aid to” the injured.
The complaint also states Young praised the July 16 attacks on two military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where five U.S. military personnel were shot to death.
She allegedly wrote to an investigator: “What makes me feel (better) after just watching the news is that an akhi carried out an attack against U.S. marines in TN! Alhamdulillah, the numbers of supporters are growing.”
Dakhlalla, who the complaint states offered his services with computers, education and media, also allegedly wrote to investigators on July 13 that he wished “to be a mujahid akhi” and said, “I am willing to be fight. I want to be taught what it really means to have that heart in battle!”
‘The family is just shocked’
Following the arrest of their son, the Dakhlalla family residence was searched by FBI agents, family attorney Dennis Harmon confirmed.
Dakhlalla’s father, Oda, serves as the imam for the Starkville-based Islamic Center of Mississippi, and his mother, Lisa, previously ran a Cotton District restaurant.
Muhammad Dakhlalla has a room at the home, which is near the mosque.
“Not only did they fully comply with the FBI, local field agents knew (the Dakhlalla family),” said Harmon, a Columbus attorney. “The FBI has done standard walk-arounds at the mosque many times. If you know Oda, you know that you’ll have to eat dinner with him and his family if you visit his home. When the FBI did these walk-arounds, they, too, would sit and have dinner. It’s not like these people were unknown to each other. They considered each other friends.”
Harmon also said Muhammad Dakhlalla’s parents encouraged him to tell investigators “everything he knows” in hopes of resolving the situation.
“The family is just shocked,” Harmon added.
Hainsey: The system works
GTRA Executive Director Mike Hainsey applauded the efforts of FBI agents and said Saturday’s operation did not endanger passengers.
Hainsey previously confirmed the arrests took place in the airport’s terminal, and Dakhlalla and Young never boarded the Atlanta-bound plane.
In a Tuesday release, he said passengers on the flight were not aware of the FBI’s operation.
“This was a well-planned and well-executed operation by the FBI. They were extremely professional and went out of their way to apprehend the people without putting passengers or employees at risk,” he said in the release. “This is proof that this system works. Our law enforcement agencies worked together to ensure the safety of our passengers.”
Dispatch stringer R.J. Morgan and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
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